At one point during my first look at turn-based strategy game Classified: France '44, one of the developers stops what he's saying, stands up and starts drawing diagrams on a whiteboard using NATO symbology. I walked into that room barely knowing what a Lee Enfield is; I walked out knowing the difference between 'enfilade' and 'defilade'.
All of which is to say, Absolutely Games is serious about military history. Seriously serious. And that's reflected not just in the premise of its debut game, but in its densely layered systems.
Classified: France '44 is set in... well, France in 1944, during the Nazi occupation. In the run up to D-Day, the Allies deployed a small, elite team of soldiers into the country to aid the French Resistance in undermining German operations. Your job is to take control of that team, building relationships with the fractured factions of the Resistance while using sabotage and guerrilla tactics against the enemy.
The game I'm immediately put in mind of is XCOM 2. Though there are no aliens or plasma guns to be seen, the structure is very similar-missions are tense, turn-based affairs, composed of both stealth and firefights with small squads. Outside of the action you have to manage your soldiers, level them up, and secure new equipment for them, while trying to gain and maintain control over territories on an over world map. Like XCOM 2, you're the underdog, surrounded by enemies on all sides and trying to avoid being uncovered and destroyed, but also dealing with the demands of your quarrelsome allies within the different groups that make up the Resistance.
BETTER JED THAN DEAD
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Denne historien er fra September 2023-utgaven av PC Gamer US Edition.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Special Report- Stacked Deck - Monster Train, a deckbuilding roguelike that firmly entrenched itself as the crown prince to the kingly Slay the Spire back in 2020, was the kind of smash success you might call Champagne Big.
Monster Train, a deckbuilding roguelike that firmly entrenched itself as the crown prince to the kingly Slay the Spire back in 2020, was the kind of smash success you might call Champagne Big. Four years later, its successor Inkbound’s launch from Early Access was looking more like Sandwich Big.I’m not just saying that because of the mountain of lamb and eggplants I ate while meeting with developer Shiny Shoe over lunch, to feel out what the aftermath of releasing a game looks like in 2024. I mean, have I thought about that sandwich every day since? Yes. But also, the indie team talked frankly about the struggle of luring Monster Train’s audience on board for its next game.
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